A new CHAPTER Jan’s decision to downsize
THE AUCKLAND WOMAN IS ENJOYING LIFE IN HER NEW APARTMENT
When Jan Beaumont’s children became concerned their sharp-as-a-tack mum was not quite her normal outgoing self, they started to consider the possibility of her moving into a retirement village.
“My kids noticed my personality had changed and were concerned I was suffering from dementia,” says the retired Aucklander. “It turns out I had a massive brain tumour that had probably been growing for about 15 years!”
Fortunately for Jan, most of the growth was able to be removed by surgery.
In the meantime, the seed had been planted to reassess her living situation.
“Initially, I thought I was far too young for a retirement village. Then I suddenly thought, ‘Come on, I’m 71. I should be thinking about it.’ I went along and met a sales person from Ryman and loved what I saw.“
In 2016, she signed up for an apartment in the boutique Logan Campbell Retirement Village in Auckland’s leafy Greenlane.
As thoughts turned towards shifting into the modern two-bedroom unit and paring down possessions from her home of 20 years, Jan was hit by a fresh health scare late last year. The tumour appeared to be rapidly regrowing. “It was at the time I was planning to downsize and get my place ready for sale,” she recalls.
After 30 radiotherapy sessions, the tumour nally responded to treatment, but left Jan exhausted.“It was fairly hard work but I think I came through the treatment strongly.“
However, knowing much of her furniture was not going to t in her new place, she still had to face the challenge of downsizing her possessions.
“I’d gone from a big house to a three-bedroom townhouse to a two-bedroom apartment and you cannot take everything into a two-bedroom apartment! Deciding what to throw away or give away was quite dif cult.”
While family had rst dibs, other belongings went to charity shops, the land ll or were sold on social media trading sites.
“In the end, I’m very, very glad I did it because I don’t own as much and when my time comes, my children won’t have as much to deal with.“
Jan decided to take the opportunity to splash out on new furniture to complement the new decor. “My furniture was a little big to come here so I sold things rst, purchased other things and had them delivered straight to my apartment. Not only is it a new place to live but I’m surrounded by new furniture and it’s just wonderful!”
But not everything had to go. “We have a really lovely library here and all the residents were able to bring the books they had and they’ve now become part of our library, so we didn’t part company with all of our books.”
Just nine weeks into village living, Jan is embracing her new address and enjoying being close to grandchildren who live nearby.
“Much as I loved that house, I haven’t missed it since I came here. I can’t believe it. I’m so happy here.”
‘I don’t own as much and when my time comes, my children won’t have as much to deal with’